A few weeks ago, I was watching* “The Next Food Network Star”**, in which three judges were evaluating dishes made by the contestants. One of the judges was honest about not liking one of the dishes…and then pointed out that she’d found a long hair in her dish (the chef in question did, indeed, have long hair).
Technically, my wife was watching, I was just in the same room as the television at the time.
** I think this was the show…at any rate, it’s a show in which several contestants cook their way through different challenges.
Freshwater fish is not uneatable but is seemingly harder to get right. I cannot get around how many lionized carp and perch and catfish places I have seen that are just awful or (more mildly) non-events, consisting of vaguely fish-like stuff in a half inch of breadcrumb and frying oil batter. Asians seem to get river/lake fish a bit better though I have some mud-befouled, oily “banquet fish” at high-end Chinese restaurants too.
The funny thing about Feasting on Asphalt was that he just didn’t seem to find a lot of memorable food.
The whole trip went by, with planned and unplanned stops, and the best food (in his own words) was an authentic Indian curry at a motel. I’d guess the close second would be the meat loaf he made himself in the little mini-oven the truckers helped him find.
Time and time again, he put on a happy face but just seemed like he was waiting to find a real gem. I think he reflected what I feel about small town food: yes, in a blue moon, you will find a pretty good meal. Sometimes the food will be decent. But, unfortunately, big cities tend to have really good food and small towns tend to have shitty food, because there’s no competition and people have lower expectations.
Believe me, I love the romantic notion that in every new town there’s a great culinary experience. It’s a wonderful idea. In reality, I’ve traveled through a lot of the Midwest and you can’t find a lot of local places anymore (it’s chain city) and the ones you can find are often just dreadful. The hubs are where the good food is – more immigrant communities, more sophisticated palates, more just plain diversity of food so the bad stuff can be safely and easily ignored.
It wasn’t on the Food Network but I saw Joan Rivers twice in a row spit out food into her hand in a cooking segment on a show. Not that you can really trust her judgement about anything.
I personally don’t get the all the flak lutefisk gets. It’s just bland, gelatinous/mushy fish. I guess the texture can be offputting, but the flavor is mild. Then again, so says the person who’s eaten pickled turkey gizzards at a bar in Wisconsin (and enjoyed them), so perhaps my taste buds are totally warped.